


You Can't Hide Forever (But You Can Certainly Try)

by Drag0nst0rm



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Magic Revealed, past freylin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drag0nst0rm/pseuds/Drag0nst0rm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After yet another attack on Camelot, Arthur's investigating everyone's rooms for traces of magic to reassure the populace. Gwaine's got nothing better to do, so he follows along. Everything's fine . . . Until they get to Merlin's room.</p><p>It's not evidence of magic. It's a good deal more problematic than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silverseed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverseed/gifts), [eset](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eset/gifts).



> I don't own Merlin.

"Merlin."

"Yes, sire?" If Gwaine noticed anything odd in Merlin's voice, he dismissed it as annoyance or nervousness typical for the situation.

"Why is there a girl hiding in your wardrobe?"

Gwaine choked. That sounded like a question Arthur would have been asking him back when they were searching _his_ rooms for signs of sorcery.

Obviously, there hadn't been. Lock picks, yes. A few other marginally legal implements, maybe. Sorcery? Nah. Even Gwaine wasn't that stupid.

"Why do you think, Arthur?" Gwaine called up, chuckling.

"She has your eyes, Merlin," Arthur said in a deadly calm voice. "Why is there a three year old girl with your eyes hiding in your wardrobe?"

Gwaine choked.

It was only then he realized Merlin wasn't nervous.

He was terrified.

Merlin was already running into his room, something he must have been dying to do ever since Arthur, with the air of someone who was wasting their time and knew it, came in to check for sorcery in order to reassure the populace after a recent burst of attacks. Gwaine followed close behind him.

Merlin had a kid? Why didn't he know Merlin had a kid? For that matter, why didn't he know Merlin had a girl? Granted, maybe he'd met her while Gwaine was still off traveling, but it seemed like the kind of thing you'd mention.

Arthur had backed away from the wardrobe he'd flung open. His arms were crossed and his eyebrows were raised.

Merlin had edged himself between Arthur and the wardrobe. Two big blue eyes wide with fear peeped around him to study the scene. A faint whimpering was the only sound in the world.

And that was odd in and of itself. Shouldn't Merlin be picking her up to comfort her instead of standing in front of her like -

Like Arthur was a threat.

Gwaine's eyes narrowed.

"Merlin?" Arthur repeated. For the first time, Gwaine heard the desperation in Arthur's voice.

Arthur was afraid.

Arthur hadn't known.

But - But those two told each other everything.

Except that wasn't true, was it? Arthur told Merlin everything. Merlin . . . Merlin told Gaius everything.

Presumably. Probably.

Maybe.

Speaking of Gaius, Gwaine stuck his head out the door and caught the old man's attention. "Get Lancelot," he whispered tensely.

Because there was another secret Merlin kept that Gwaine knew of, and he only knew of it because he'd seen him at it the first time they'd met. He hadn't mentioned it, knowing it would probably give the poor man a heart attack to know someone else knew. But Lancelot knew, Gwaine was sure, and even if he didn't, he'd stand by Merlin. Merlin had magic.

And what were the odds that Merlin's two biggest secrets were entirely unrelated?

"Arthur . . . Look, she's plainly not evidence of sorcery. She's probably just one of the servant's kids."

Not actually a lie, Gwaine noted admiringly.

Unfortunately, for once the princess was actually paying attention. "I'm sure she is," Arthur said through gritted teeth. "Seeing as you're one of the servants."

Merlin winced. The whimpering got louder. Merlin reached a hand back, probably to stroke her hair or something. "Arthur, you're scaring her. Can't we do this somewhere else?"

"Why? So you can distract me with something? Good grief, Merlin, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's none of your business!"

Arthur recoiled. He looked . . . Hurt. Vulnerable.

He hadn't realized what Gwaine had. Arthur thought Merlin had erupted in a fit of anger.

Gwaine had seen the pained calculation in Merlin's eyes.

Merlin was still shouting. "When was I supposed to tell you, huh? Good servants don't talk about their personal lives, Arthur! So when should I have told you? When I found out Morgana was a traitor but couldn't tell you because Uther would have had me beheaded? When I was being accused of sorcery every other week and by law you were supposed to drag in my whole family?" Merlin swallowed. "When you already had the weight of the world on your shoulders and were you yelling at me for disappearing?"

Morgana would have killed the girl. Uther would have killed the girl. But the last one?

"It might have been a good excuse!" Arthur yelled back.

"Absolutely. All I had to do was say, 'Hey, Arthur, my wife just died, can I have some time off?' You'd have yelled at me for not telling you sooner, and I really didn't need that right then."

Arthur looked like he'd been struck. "Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" he demanded.

Pleaded.

Lancelot still wasn't here, and that was bad, because Gwaine suspected he knew the answer.

The whimpering had turned to sobs. "I do better, I do better, Daddy. I be good."

Merlin's heart was breaking if anyone cared to see. "Shh. It's not your fault, you're not in trouble. They're not going to take you sweetheart, I promise. They're not going to hurt you."

. . . And that confirmed Gwaine's suspicions and broke his heart all in one.

It also sparked the princess's brain cells. "Hang on," he said slowly. "I've never seen her before. Not ever. She can't have been hiding in your room this whole time."

Merlin's expression was not encouraging.

"She's been hiding in your room the whole time?" Gwaine exploded. "She's been in here her entire life?"

"She goes into Gaius's rooms too," Merlin said defensively. "When it's late."

When everyone else is asleep is what went unsaid.

"Why?" Arthur breathed. Then: "What happened to your wife, Merlin?"

Merlin closed his eyes. "Don't ask me that, Arthur. Please don't ask me that."

Lancelot finally arrived. He ran in, eyes desperate.

The door banged against the wall.

The three knights were sent flying against the wall.

The little girl's wide, panicked eyes were gold.

Arthur got to his feet. Too late, Merlin held up a hand, trying to pretend he was responsible, but they had seen. They had seen.

Gwaine had never felt so sick at being right.

"She has magic," Arthur said, his tone completely flat, giving nothing away.

"No," Merlin denied. "No, it wasn't her. Arthur, she's three, she couldn't possibly - "

"I saw, Merlin."

When was the last time he had seen Merlin cry? Had he ever seen Merlin cry?

Until now, of course.

"Arthur." Merlin choked on the word. The tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"You knew," Arthur realized. "That's why you didn't tell me."

"Her mother was a Druid," Merlin whispered. "I knew it was possible. Then, two years ago . . . "

"Two years."

"Arthur - "

"Don't call me that," Arthur whispered.

Merlin looked like Arthur had just signed his writ of execution. "Sire. Please."

Lancelot looked stricken.

"You know the law." Arthur's voice didn't sound like his own.

"You would - " Merlin stopped and tried again. "You would drown her for her parents?"

"You said - "

A light appeared in Merlin's hand. "You'll have to burn me too, sire"

The world could have ended, and no one in the room would have noticed.

Arthur scrubbed a hand down his face. "I - I can't."

"Please," Merlin begged.

Not because he couldn't fight their way clear, Gwaine realized, but because it would kill him to have to.

"That's not what I - What's her name?"

"Her - what?"

"Her name, Merlin, surely you gave her one."

"Hana," he managed. "We named her Hana."

"Can I see her?"

Merlin picked her up out of the wardrobe with trembling hands. He set her on the floor but kept his hands on her shoulders. "Shh, Hana," he soothed. "Remember the prat- I mean, the prince. The prince I told you about?"

"You said I wasn' supposed to talk to him. You said he was scary."

Arthur flinched and knelt down to her eye level. "Hello, Hana. I promise I'll try not to be scary."

She peeked around Merlin carefully. "Daddy?" she questioned.

"It's alright," he said quietly. He glanced at Arthur quickly. "Right?"

Hana was moving towards Arthur tentatively. "Your hair's shiny," she said matter of factly. "I've never seen shiny hair before."

"No, I suppose you haven't," Arthur said quietly.

Hana glanced around the room. "Who are they?"

"Those are Gwaine and Lancelot. Lancelot's nice, but you're not allowed to spend time with Gwaine. He'll corrupt you."

"Hey!" Gwaine protested.

"Oh, it's okay," Hana said quickly. "I'm already co-co- thingie. The last time the guards came through, they said magic co-co-thingie. So I already am."

Merlin looked horrified.

Actually, all of them did.

Even Arthur.

"Just so you know," Gwaine whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "I'm on her side."

Arthur looked at not one but two sets of pleading blue eyes and sighed. "I think that makes all of us, Gwaine."

There were three very audible sighs of relief.

Hana had gotten distracted.

And Arthur's had been entirely internal, thank you very much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, MegMarch1880, and a big thank you to both silverseed and eset, who prompted this.

It was all very well to get the immediate concern of execution out of the way, but of course things got more complicated than that. Things _always_ got more complicated once you got the nobility involved.

In this case, complicated meant an awful lot of Merlin being incredibly busy, which didn’t strike Gwaine as fair. Hana was only now being allowed outside Gaius’s rooms, and she couldn’t even take advantage of it because there wasn’t anyone to watch her.

Gwaine decided to fix that.

 

“ . . . and these are the battlements. Don’t fall off them, or your father will have my head.” He tightened his grip on Hana’s legs a little. She was plenty safe from her perch on his shoulders, and she might just bounce for all he knew, but best not to take the risk.

Hana’s hands tightened one his hair. “It’s _big._ ”

Gwaine looked around at the view with fresh eyes. To a little girl used to only two rooms with windows she was probably taught to avoid, it must seem impossibly enormous. Even Gwaine had to admit that the view of the city was impressive.

“It is,” he said. “You know what else is big? The pastries they were making down in the kitchens. Let’s go see if we can steal some.”

 

They were enjoying the answer to that question in a nice tucked away alcove when Percival showed up. Hana shrunk away from the unfamiliar knight with his hulking muscles.

Percival knelt down to her level, face softening with a smile. “Hi, there.”

“Hi,” she whispered, peeking out from behind Gwaine.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Hana. I’m almost _four,_ ” she said proudly.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Lady Hana,” Percival said gravely. “My name’s Percival. I’m afraid I’m not quite sure how old I am.”

“You’re about as tall as three Hana’s put together,” Gwaine said with a grin. “Maybe you’re twelve.”

“Twelve’s _big,_ ” Hana said. She frowned. “Your name’s big too.”

Percival shot Gwaine a look that promised pain on the training yard later, but he smiled at Hana. “You can make it shorter if you want.”

The noon bell tolled. Gwaine bit back a curse before young ears could hear it. He was _not_ going to corrupt her, no matter what Arthur said.

“Arthur asked me to break in our new knightly hopefuls since he’s busy,” he said. “I don’t suppose - ?”

“I’ve got this,” Percival assured him. He settled in just outside the alcove. “Lancelot’s been telling me all about you,” he told Hana, who had instantly latched on to Gwaine’s side when he tried to leave. “I made you something.” He drew outa neatly stitched rag doll. It had a tiny neckerchief.

Hana’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, that’s just not fair,” Gwaine complained. “ _I’m_ supposed to be her favorite uncle.”

“I thought you were busy,” Percival said innocently.

“Just remember who got you pastries,” Gwaine told Hana. She nodded somemnly. Her hands had unlatched from Gwaine so that she could reach for the doll.

Gwaine clapped Percival on the shoulder and grinned as he walked away.

 

When Lancelot finally tracked them down, Hana was curled up in the big knight’s arms with a doll that looked oddly liked Merlin clutched in her arms. Percival was humming a lullaby through a blindingly bright grin.

“Shh,” he whispered when he saw Lancelot approach their alcove.

Lancelot grinned back and settled in to wait.

 

Lancelot was still there when Hana stretched sleepily and cracked her eyes open.

“Hello, my lady,” Lancelot said. “I hear you’ve had some adventures since I saw you last.”

Hana launched herself at him. He laughed as he scooped her up and spun her around.

“Lots and lots,” she agreed. “We went up high and saw _everything,_ and then we got sweet things, and then I got a doll that looks like _Daddy_.”

Lancelot looked down at the doll she’d thrust at him and blinked at it. “I didn’t realize you could sew so well,” he told his friend.

Percival shrugged helplessly. “The neckerchief and the hair were me. The eyes were all her.”

The eyes flickered between blue and gold. Lancelot blinked again. “I should have guessed that.”

 

Something crashed into Elyan’s knees. Startled, he looked down and saw a tiny wisp of a girl with a doll tucked into her belt now sitting down hard on the stone. She raised her hands up to examine them, and her lip startled to wobble when she saw the blood welling up from the scrapes.

“No, no, don’t cry,” Elyan said frantically as he knelt down next to her.

“Fix it,” she demanded, thrusting her hands at him.

Elyan desperately tried to remember what Gwen had used to do for him. It didn’t look serious enough for a bandage. What else, what else . . . Oh!

He kissed both palms. “There,” he said. “A kiss to make it better.”

She looked down suspiciously. “It’s still there,” she accused.

Lancelot came running around the corner. Elyan looked up at him helplessly. “I can’t just make it disappear.”

“Daddy can,” she said stubbornly.

Lancelot winced. “That’s because he’s . . . special.”

Everything fell together. “Wait, you’re _Merlin’s_ kid?”

Big blue eyes flashed gold as she frowned down at her hands. It made no noticeable difference.

“Daddy can do it,” she grumbled again.

“It was one thing to hear Merlin was actually a sorcerer and another to hear his secret daughter confirm it. “Can he?” he asked faintly.

“Yes, but not much more than scrapes,” Lancelot said. “Healing’s tricky for him.”

“Oh,” Elyan said. “Maybe Gaius?”

Hana nodded tearily and held out her arms to be picked up.

Elyan had never picked up a witch before. It felt rather like picking up any other child.

Or at least he thought so. He hadn’t picked up many kids.

 

There was something about knowing you were responsible for a little girl spending years in two little rooms that drove home that things needed to change. His thoughts kept circling back to that even as other, technically more important matters got discussed.

Now all the official talk for the day was done, and Arthur was sitting in Gaius’s front room, waiting for Gaius to return and answer a few minor questions.

And possibly to brew up a headache tonic. His head was pounding with tension, and Merlin hovering awkwardly in his peripheral vision wasn’t helping.

“How did no one find her before now?” Arthur finally demanded just to break the silence. “I know I’ve checked the cupboard before.”

“I put a notice-me-not charm inside the cupboard,” Merlin explained.

“And, what, it wore off?”

Merlin squirmed a little and muttered something.

“What was that?”

“I said it conflicted with the new protections against magic I’d put on your clothes,” Merlin said reluctantly. “I hadn’t realized it would do that.”

Arthur stared at him. “You _enchanted_ my clothes?”

“Helpfully,” Merlin said.

That really wasn’t the point.

Before he could press the point, Elyan burst through the door with Hana in his arms. “There was an accident with a cart in the lower town. Gaius needs your help. Lancelot already went with the messenger. He told me to bring you her.”

Merlin was already grabbing a bag and filling it. “Is Hana alright?”

“Just scrapes,” Elyan assured him. “From a . . . different incident.”

Merlin let out a long sigh of relief. “Good.” He kissed her head quickly. “Elyan, show me where. Arthur, you can watch Hana, can’t you?” He flew out the door without waiting for an answer. Elyan at least had the grace to look apologetic while dumping Hana in his arms and running after him.

Arthur looked down at her.

Hana looked up at him.

“I don’t think your father really understands that he can’t order around a king,” Arthur said dryly. The word _father_ felt strange in his mouth.

Hana considered this for a moment. “Hands,” she said imperiously, thrusting her scraped hands up at his face.

“Apparently it’s a family trait.” He set her down on the table and wrapped her hands in a few scraps of bandaging Merlin had left behind. A healer he might not be, but every knight could at least tie a bandage.

Hana examined her newly wrapped hands. They must have been adequate because she promptly stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Arthur sighed. He’d been trying to hold himself together all day. Normally, he could at least relax in front of Merlin, but recent revelations ruined all that. Hana, at least, was too young to care if he gave in and put his head in his hands.

“It’s not even the magic,” he said. The words were muffled, but it wasn’t like it mattered. He wasn’t expecting any life changing advice from a three year old. “It’s the secrets. And the lies. And the complete lack of trust.” He let his hands fall.

Hana regarded him solemnly. Then she reached out and ran her hand clumsily through his hair like Merlin had done to comfort her. “It be okay.”

Arthur gave a choked laugh. “Thank you.”

She nodded in satisfaction and stuck her thumb back in her mouth.

Hana. Merlin’s magical daughter. Whom he had left with Arthur without a second thought because Arthur had given his word it would be alright.

It was something. Enough to build on.

Some of the headache started to fade.

“I’m very glad I met you,” Arthur told her.

Hana just nodded at this self-evident truth.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Legacy (The You Can't Hide Forever (But You Can Certainly Try) Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222501) by [StarlightInHerEyes22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightInHerEyes22/pseuds/StarlightInHerEyes22)




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